3rd Silvester Trophy: Taylor and Herbert Victorious In Uster

After five days of intense action at the 3rd Silvester Trophy, England’s Lily Taylor and Simon Herbert have claimed the titles at Squash Arena Uster after winning their respective finals on Monday afternoon.

14 nationalities were represented across the two draws, with English top seeds in both. The men’s event was won by an Englishman, but it was No.9 seed Simon Herbert that was the man to take the glory in Uster this week.

Herbert, who claimed his first Tour title at the Cheam Squash Squared Classic in 2021, came in as the No.9 seed, and started his week with a four-game victory over Switzerland’s David Bernet. That was followed by a win against another Swiss player, this time the No.3 seed for the tournament, Robin Gadola.

The Englishman followed that up with a straight games victory over Spain’s Nilo Vidal, before then beating compatriot, and No.10 seed, Stuart MacGregor in a five-game battle which saw Herbert regroup after losing the third and fourth games to drop a two-game lead.

The final saw Herbert take on Italian No.1 Yuri Furneti, the tournament’s No.5 seed. He lost both the first and third games, the latter on a tie-break 12-10, but was able to fight back on both occasions to level the match. After doing so for a second time, he carried that momentum through into the deciding fifth game, winning it 11-4 to claim his second Tour title, and the biggest of his career to date.

Taylor came into the women’s event as the top seed, but the Englishwoman did not have it all her own way en route to the title, going to five in a tight semi-final, before she claimed her fourth PSA Tour crown of the season.

She received a bye through the opening round of the 24-strong women’s draw, before then beating compatriot Polly Clark and Egypt’s Rana Ismail in straight games to make it into the last four.

There, she came up against another Englishwoman, in No.3 seed Lucy Beecroft, and after winning the first two games, she found herself level and going into the deciding fifth game. She was able to regroup though, to advance to the final, which was a much more straight forward victory. Taylor got the better of compatriot Anna Kimberley in straight games to secure her fourth title this season, the most on the Challenger Tour so far.

Results: 3rd Silvester Trophy
Men’s Final
[9] Simon Herbert (ENG) bt [5] Yuri Farneti (ITA) 3-2: 7-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4, 11-4 (50m)

Women’s Final
[1] Lily Taylor (ENG) bt [6] Anna Kimberley (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-1 (25m)

Men’s Semi-Finals
[9] Simon Herbert (ENG) bt [10] Stuart Macgregor (ENG) 3-2: 11-8, 12-10, 7-11, 5-11, 11-4 (46m)
[5] Yuri Farneti (ITA) bt [6] Marek Panacek (CZE) 3-1: 11-6, 10-12, 11-2, 11-7 (57m)

Women’s Semi-Finals
[1] Lily Taylor (ENG) bt [3] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-2: 11-6, 11-2, 11-13, 10-12, 11-6 (52m)
[6] Anna Kimberley (ENG) bt [5] Celine Walser (SUI) 3-2: 10-12, 11-9, 12-14, 11-9, 11-6 (61m)

Men’s Quarter Finals
[10] Stuart Macgregor (ENG) bt [12] Joel Arscott (NZL) 3-1: 9-11, 11-0, 11-6, 11-8 (42m)
[9] Simon Herbert (ENG) bt [13] Nilo Vidal (ESP) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (24m)
[6] Marek Panacek (CZE) bt [4] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) 3-2: 13-11, 8-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8 (71m)
[5] Yuri Farneti (ITA) bt [2] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) 3-1: 12-10, 11-9, 5-11, 14-12 (61m)

Women’s Quarter Finals
[1] Lily Taylor (ENG) bt Rana Ismail (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (25m)
[3] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt Ella Galova (FRA) 3-0: 11-2, 11-9, 11-5 (21m)
[6] Anna Kimberley (ENG) bt [4] Alicia Mead (ENG) 3-1: 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5 (42m)
[5] Celine Walser (SUI) bt [2] Nadia Pfister (SUI) 3-1: 11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8 (29m)

Men’s Round Two
[12] Joel Arscott (NZL) bt [1] Robert Downer (ENG) 3-2: 12-14, 11-7, 11-3, 4-11, 11-3 (62m)
[10] Stuart Macgregor (ENG) bt [8] David Zeman (CZE) 3-0: 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 (39m)
[13] Nilo Vidal (ESP) bt [7] Roshan Bharos (NED) 3-1: 9-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-8 (59m)
[9] Simon Herbert (ENG) bt [3] Robin Gadola (SUI) 3-2: 11-8, 6-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-8 (56m)
[4] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt [16] William Donnelly (NZL) 3-0: 11-2, 11-7, 11-6 (33m)
[6] Marek Panacek (CZE) bt [14] Nils Roesch (SUI) 3-2: 11-8, 3-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7 (67m)
[5] Yuri Farneti (ITA) bt [15] Miguel Mathis (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (30m)
[2] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt [11] Cedric Kuchen (SUI) 3-2: 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4 (62m)

Women’s Round Two
[1] Lily Taylor (ENG) bt Polly Clark (ENG) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 (17m)
Rana Ismail (EGY) bt [8] Taba Taghavi (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 (26m)
Ella Galova (FRA) bt [7] Lea Barbeau (FRA) 3-1: 13-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3 (29m)
[3] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt Jacqueline Peychär (AUT) 3-0: 11-5, 11-3, 12-10 (25m)
[4] Alicia Mead (ENG) bt Aylin Günsav (GER) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 (20m)
[6] Anna Kimberley (ENG) bt Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (27m)
[5] Celine Walser (SUI) bt Kiera Marshall (ENG) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 14-12 (25m)
[2] Nadia Pfister (SUI) bt Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) 3-1: 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10 (33m)

Men’s Round One
[1] Robert Downer (ENG) bt [WC] Andreas Dietzsch (SUI) 3-1: 9-11, 11-7, 11-0, 11-5 (33m)
[12] Joel Arscott (NZL) bt Rohan Mandil (FRA) 3-0: 11-1, 11-3, 11-4 (25m)
[10] Stuart MacGregor (ENG) bt [WC] Fabian Seltz (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (22m)
[8] David Zeman (CZE) bt [WC] Lasse Widmer (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-3 (23m)
[7] Roshan Bharos (NED) bt [WC] Fabian Igelbrink (SUI) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-1 (18m)
[13] Nilo Vidal (ESP) bt [WC] Nico Mathis (SUI) 3-0: 11-3, 11-6, 11-9 (27m)
[9] Simon Herbert (ENG) bt David Bernet (SUI) 3-1: 11-13, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 (39m)
[3] Robin Gadola (SUI) bt Baptiste Bouin (FRA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 (25m)
[4] Temwa Chileshe (NZL) bt Heiko Schwarzer (GER) 3-2: 13-15, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4, 11-9 (54m)
[16] William Donnelly (NZL) bt Brice Nicolas (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 (22m)
[14] Nils Roesch (SUI) bt Maceo Levy (FRA) 3-1: 11-9, 11-8, 12-14, 11-9 (55m)
[6] Marek Panacek (CZE) bt [WC] Noah Mannhart (SUI) 3-0: 11-2, 11-1, 11-3 (18m)
[5] Yuri Furneti (ITA) bt Jakob Kanel (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (22m)
[15] Miguel Mathis (SUI) bt Marc ter Sluis (NED) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-2 (24m)
[11] Cedric Kuchen (SUI) bt [WC] Silva Oertli (SUI) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 (21m)
[2] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt [WC] Sven Stettler (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (23m)

Women’s Round One
Polly Clark (ENG) bt Alina Poessl (SUI) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 (18m)
Ella Galova (FRA) bt Kate Gadola (SUI) 3-1: 11-5, 11-13, 11-6, 11-1 (27m)
Jacqueline Peychar (AUT) bt [WC] Areli Zayes (MEX) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-3 (17m)
Aylin Günsav (GER) bt [WC] Andrea Fjellgaard (NOR) 3-0: 11-2, 11-7, 11-8 (19m)
Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) bt Ana Munos (FRA) 3-2: 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-13, 11-4 (37m)
Kiera Marshall (ENG) bt Stella Kaufmann (SUI) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-2 (17m)
Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) bt [WC] Stephanie Muller (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-1 (17m)